The overall conference theme is "Descobrir a Comunicação - Discover Communication". People who use AAC and their families, as well as people who work with them in the field of AAC, are continually making important discoveries. We will showcase many such discoveries at our conference in Lisbon. Together we will celebrate the history of ISAAC and AAC, and the enormous development we have seen over the last 30 years.

The Board of Trustees would very much like to get your views and opinions about what you think are really important to Communication Matters.

We last carried out a survey about Communication Matters in 2008 and a lot has happened in the world of AAC over the past five years. With all the developments surrounding national commissioning of services, we want to make sure we understand your opinions about Communication Matters, what you see as the organisation's key roles and where you think we could improve or develop in future.

We are therefore writing to ask you to contribute by completing a simple online survey by Monday 18 November 2013.

Your contribution will guide the Trustees in developing the strategy and marketing plans for Communication Matters over the coming years, as well as providing us with valuable insight about what is important to you. We would be really grateful if you could please make the time to share your thoughts with us.

Countries all over the world are celebrating International AAC Awareness Month in October with imaginative awareness raising events, including a '24 Hour Non Speech Challenge' to only use alternative means of communication - such as writing, symbols, gestures, applications - for a day. To take part in the challenge, please visit www.cscoe.com/defi_e.php

Why not organise an event in your school, workplace or neighbourhood? Here are some ideas from events taking place around the world: